20 July 2017

Clashes between the Philippines' Presidential Security Group (PSG) and suspected members of the armed wing of the country's Communist Party (CPP) on the island of Mindanao left five guards wounded, media reported Wednesday.MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The Philippine branch of the CNN broadcaster reported, citing the PSG spokesman Col. Mike Aquino, that the presidential guards were on the way to the city of Cagayan de Oro, when they were stopped by the armed men. Aquino added that the New People's Army (NPA), the armed wing of the CPP, was believed to be behind the incident.

"There were men saying they were with Task Force Davao conducting a spot checkpoint. We know that this move is used by the NPA — pretending they are soldiers. When our second vehicle noticed that they were not real soldiers, our troops opened fire on them until it became an encounter," Aquino said as quoted by the broadcaster.

According to the Philippine Army's public information officer Maj. Ezra Balagtey, two of the injured PSG personnel were taken to the hospital.

The incident took place a day after Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte asked the country’s parliament to extend martial law on the island of Mindanao until the end of 2017. The move is expected to provide the Philippine authorities with the opportunity to quell the terrorists operating in the area. Reacting to Duterte's initiative, the CPP asked its armed wing to launch "armed counteractions and offensives" to defeat the martial law on the island.

The martial law was declared in Mindanao in May after the outbreak of the conflict between the Philippine security forces and the Islamic extremists, affiliated with the Islamic State terrorist group (outlawed in Russia), including the Maute and Abu Sayyaf jihadist groups.

This story first appeared on Sputnik & is reposted here with permission.